Once Upon a Dream
by xmjcx
Summary: Bethyl AU. When Beth was kidnapped, she accepted the fact that she would never see Morgan Jones again - that was, until he turned up in one of the dungeon cells with a group of strangers, of course. Finding it difficult to deny his request for her to help them all escape and mixed with her attraction to a certain surly redneck, Beth's not sure of how much of this can go to plan.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE: MR JONES**

 _"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream..."_

The words rolled from her tongue with ease as Beth padded her way barefoot across the cobbled floor. The pace of her movements was slow and purposeful as she turned her head from left to right, her light blue eyes dancing over the people locked up inside of their cells. Jimmy had recently informed her that some new people had been brought in and placed in one of the cells down here, and Beth took the hint that he was suggesting that she go and check them out and see if any of them needed tending to.

It had been a while since new people had been brought here, and a wave of an emotion that Beth would almost describe as excitement washed over her at the news. In her rushed movements to get down here and see the new people who had been brought in, Beth had forgotten to bring her supplies along with her. That would mean that she would have to make another trip down here at some point in the near future, but Beth supposed that it would at least give her the opportunity to see who needed what, and how much of it they needed, too. It was rare that none of the new arrivals needed medical attention, but convincing them to allow her to assist them was another issue entirely.

 _"I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam."_

Being a prisoner here wasn't all that bad, really.

Well, not anymore, anyway.

At first, it had been horrific; and she had kicked up one hell of a fuss and put up one hell of a fight, too. The worst part about the whole arrangement was the dungeons - at least, it had been for her, anyway. Being chained up in an old, dingy cell that had been filled with strangers had hardly been fun. Being fed the very basic of rations and having to do your business in a bucket that rarely ever got cleaned and that sat in the corner of the cell was an experience that Beth was in no hurry to repeat, either, and it was that memory that motivated her to get on with her job role. Beth supposed that she was sort of like a nurse here, and although it hadn't been the job that she had dreamed of when she had been younger, it wasn't the worst job in the world, either.

The memories of her experience in the dungeon made her sympathise with everyone who was put down here, too. All of the new arrivals who were immediately sent here in order to wait for their fate to be decided for them; whilst their worth was discussed and their job roles were assigned by a group of men who didn't know the slightest thing about them, but who thought that they were some sort of leaders and who thought that they had some sort of idea about what people could do around town. With every new person who arrived, Beth reminded herself that she had been just like them not even all that long ago, and even though it still made her feel sad that after the world had gone to shit - when the dead had somehow risen and most of the population of the earth had been wiped out - that the worst thing that people still had to fear was _other people,_ it was also something that she accepted. Beth didn't want to accept it, but she had to - there was no other way about it, and she figured that it was best to push all those types of thoughts away and not dwell on them too much.

After all, Beth had _survived._ And her life wasn't even all that bad anymore, either. Because sure, she might have been brought here without much choice; might be being held here as though she were some sort of prisoner, might be forced to do things that she would really rather not do - like tend to strangers and work alongside the Governor like they were friends - but at least she was _alive._ At least she was clean and dressed well and fed somewhat decently.

Because that was more than a lot of other people on this planet could say right now. Hell, it was a lot more than these people who had been chained up to the walls of their cells could say right now, too, so Beth tried her hardest not to resent her life all that much.

 _"And I know it's true, that visions are seldom all they seem."_

Most of the cells that she strolled past were filled with individuals who were busy sleeping. And if they weren't asleep, then they were quiet. It wasn't late at all - in fact, it was noon - but the dungeons were so dark and so poorly lit that nobody who was kept locked away in here would genuinely have any idea about the time of day that it actually was, anyway. All they knew was that it wasn't feeding time because it was Beth who was strolling by, not Jimmy, and that knowledge alone kept their mouths tightly shut.

There had been a time when Beth had paused at each cell that lined the dungeon and tried to converse with these strangers. Beth had pushed and pushed in an attempt to coax some sort of friendly (or at least civil) conversation out of them; tried to make them feel more at ease here, more comfortable and understanding about their situation and what was going on. But the people who filled these cells were hardly interested in Beth and her calming knowledge and words, and even though Beth considered them all to still be strangers, she did know them well enough to know who did and didn't want any sort of conversation from her.

It turns out that most of them didn't.

 _"But if I know you, I know what you'll do."_

Lord knows that Beth Greene was a trier, though, and she hardly ever went down without some sort of fight. Stubbornness was a quality that ran through her genes and stubborn she sure as hell was, so Beth was hardly going to give up before she had even tried with these newcomers. Beth knew already that she would try with them the same way that she tried with all of the other people who found themselves at home in one of the cells of this damp old underground dungeon, and whether or not they decided to give her conversation back was up to them.

 _"You'll love me at once, the way you did once..."_

The sound of something - or more some _one_ \- filled her ears, and Beth's footsteps faltered slightly at the sound of it. The candle that she was holding tightly to in her outstretched hand almost slipped through her fingers when she jumped in surprise at the sound, completely caught off guard by the distinct sound of shuffling footsteps and whispers floating from further down the dungeon. Beth's light blue eyes widened with anticipation as her body calmed down and she picked up her pace.

 _"Upon... a... dream."_

Sometimes, Beth didn't even realise that she was singing. It was a habit that came naturally to her, and most of the people who heard her sing complimented her on her voice, so Beth supposed that she had to be kind of good at it. There were times when Beth felt like she was annoying people with her singing, but she pushed those thoughts away, too, and focused on herself. Singing was a natural thing for her to do; and if she wasn't singing, she was usually humming.

But right then, Beth realised that she had been singing. Realised as soon as the last note of the song was cut off so that she could sharply inhale a breath at the sight of the people who filled the last cell on the row.

Men and women of all different ages filled it, along with a - _oh my god, is that a baby?_ Some of the people in the cell were sat with their backs pressed firmly against the concrete walls whilst others had moved themselves so that they were lay down against the cold floor as though they were trying to get some sleep. Almost all of their wrists were bound together, tightly cuffed so that they couldn't move them much at all, and they had all been chained to the floor. Not one of them didn't look up at her as she appeared directly outside of their cell, her eyes widening impossibly at the sight in front of her.

All eyes were on her, including his dark brown ones. The man looked mortified; his dark skin actually paling slightly at the sight of her stood there in front of him as though he was frightened of her, as though he had seen some sort of... _ghost._

And in a way, Beth supposed that he kind of had. After all, the last time that Beth had seen him had been before was was kidnapped; before she had been ripped away from their safe-haven by a group of men who thought that maybe she could come in handy for something or other. Beth had known all along that he would have assumed that she had been killed by those men and would have continued his search for his long-lost companion - _Rick Grimes_ , she remember that man being called - without her.

It hurt Beth to see him there, too. He looked so _weak -_ so much skinnier than she remembered, and battered and bruised, too. He looked almost out of place with the group that filled the cells, but he looked comfortable around them all, too. It was clear that they certainly weren't strangers - not to him, anyway - and try as she might, Beth couldn't bring herself to hold back the smile from her face as a shaky breath escaped from her lips.

Like he probably had accepted that Beth was dead, she had accepted the fact that she would probably never see him again.

It was devastating at first; considering he had taught her so much, looked after her like nobody else had. He had treated her as though she were his own kin - his daughter, almost, and he protected her so well, too. But after they had been separated - once she had been brought here and beaten down until all of the hope and faith that bubbled brightly inside of her faded to almost nothing - Beth gave up wishing that he would come for her.

And yet, here he was. What had to be months later.

It didn't look like he had come to save her, though.

"Morgan?" Beth breathed, the disbelief and shock evident in her tone as she edged slightly closer towards the cell, her eyes squinting as they locked dead on his own.

Silent tears streamed down his face after she had choked out his name from her suddenly very dry throat, and she swallowed before she opened her mouth again.

"What on earth are you doing here?"

* * *

 **Hello!**

 **I know I have a few other AU Bethyl fics on here that I'm still writing, but this idea has been bouncing around in my mind for what feels like forever now and I just had to get it down because it seriously would not leave me alone and it was beginning to get difficult to write for any of my other fics because this idea was just always there.**

 **I hope that I've set the scene well enough in this chapter for you to get the gist of what's going on... If not, then:**

 **Basically, Beth was never with the group from the prison and ended up being with Morgan from pretty much straight after Rick left him. She was helping him try and track down Rick when she was kidnapped from him and brought as a prisoner to this place where she's now being forced to stay at; however, because she's being co-operative and behaving herself, she's allowed to roam around town without any chains and works as a nurse. This story starts a few months after she's been kidnapped (although there will be flashbacks) when Morgan has been brought as a prisoner here alongside the group from the prison (because he successfully found Rick) and I'll probably put in a few of the people from Alexandria as part of their group, too.**

 **I've never written anything that is ZA related so I'm excited to do that, and I just want to put it out there that this _is_ a Bethyl fic, although it will probably be more of a slow-burn story than my other Bethyl fics. I'm still not sure, though.**

 **Anyway! Thanks so much for reading and please let me know what you think of this idea?! I'd love to hear back from you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone!**

 **I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has reviewed/favourited/followed this story so far. I really appreciate your support and I'm glad that people seem interested in this idea!**

 **I just wanted to make it clear once again that this is a slow-burn Bethyl story, but it does include the rest of the group and Morgan, too. I also wanted to address the fact that in this story, Beth and Maggie are not sisters. Beth's surname is still Greene and Maggie and Glenn are married, so Maggie's surname will be Rhee.**

 **I apologise for the lack of Bethyl in this chapter, but it sort of sets the scene about what has happened to Beth/what's happening in this place etc. Beth and Daryl will be officially meeting in the next chapter, which I'm literally writing right this second!**

 **Hope that clears everything up for you all!**

* * *

 **CHAPTER TWO: THE BOWMAN**

The sound of Beth's name escaping from Morgan's lips in a manner that she could only identify as a sort of strangled cry brought the young woman back to reality and out of her shocked state of silence. Before Beth even had the opportunity to blink, Morgan was sobbing hard and loudly, his upper body shaking violently as he did so.

Those who were positioned on either side of the older man - a boy with a shaggy brown hair that fell over his face and who looked to be somewhere in his early teenage years and an older woman with cropped grey hair and a very slender frame - looked both incredibly uncomfortable and surprised at Morgan's sudden outburst. The rest of the group that were squeezed into the tight space of the cell - too many of them for Beth to look at and pay attention to in that moment - were either giving Morgan, Beth or themselves strange and curious looks.

Beth had always been quite a shy person, somewhat an introvert and had felt uncomfortable (to a degree) around people that she wasn't familiar with. Those qualities had only intensified since the dead had started walking, and over the last few years, Beth had learned more than ever that it was safer to keep people at arm's length and not to trust anyone entirely. Still, in that moment, Beth found that she didn't - couldn't - care about all of the strangers who had their eyes on _her_.

Instead, Beth could only concentrate on the man who had been her companion for such a long period of time; the man who had guided her through the last few years of her life with kindness and compassion, the man who had taught her everything that he knew in order to ensure that she at least stood half a chance of surviving the apocalypse, the man who Beth had been ripped away from so cruelly. The man who had no doubt deemed her to be long gone, dead and buried - or perhaps dead, but somehow still alive; roaming the earth in search of human flesh to tear into.

That man looked so confused, so torn and exhausted and _broken_ as he shouted out her name over and over again through his tears.

The key to the cell almost slipped out of Beth's dainty hands (along with the candle, too) due to the violent way in which Beth's own body was shaking, too; but somehow, Beth managed to slip it into the lock of the cell door and twist it open with a _click_ that echoed throughout the cold and damp dungeon. Without any signs of hesitation or uncertainty, Beth pushed open the heavy door and ignored the way that it creaked loudly in protest. The young woman wasted absolutely no time in rushing over towards where Morgan was sat cross-legged on the dark cobbled floor, his back pressed firmly against the wall and his hands tied around his back.

Beth fell to her knees in front of him, her pale hands immediately reaching out to cup his face, her eyes scanning over his features.

It had been far, _far_ too long.

Morgan was shaking his head from left to right in disbelief as he stared straight into her eyes. Try as she might, Beth couldn't do anything to hold back the small laugh of surprise and genuine happiness that slipped out of her mouth as she stared right back at the older man. Tears were threatening to pour out of her own light blue eyes, but Beth had learned quite some time ago about how to keep the urge to cry in check, and now it almost seemed as though it was harder for her to cry than for her to not.

His name escaped her lips with a shaky breath as she tasted the sound of it on her tongue for the first time in what felt like years, but in reality was months.

"I thought... I thought that I'd never see you again," Beth choked out, her voice in half a whisper before she wrapped her slender arms around Morgan's neck. She shuffled closer towards him so that their chins were resting comfortably on the other's shoulder, and although it was absolutely impossible for him to return her gentle embrace from the position that he was in; Beth knew that if he could have, then he would have.

After all, Morgan had always been affectionate with her - ruffling her hair and kissing her head and hugging her tight, reminding her almost of the way that her father used to treat her.

Of course, that had all been before Hershel Greene had fallen ill and contracted the virus that eventually killed him at the Greene family farm alongside her mama, Annette, and her older brother, Shawn. Beth had been so close to giving up - she still had the scar on her wrist to prove it, too - and only changed her mind at the last minute, realising when she thought that it was too late that she still wanted to live. With the help of her daddy's farmhand, Otis, and his wife, Patricia, Beth managed to patch herself back up and flee from the farmhouse before any of her family had the chance to wake up and come for her. Beth had lost Otis and Patricia, too, and by some miracle ended up running into Morgan after just a few days of being on her own.

And Morgan had taken her in as his own, too - basically adopting her as his daughter of the apocalypse, in his own way. In Beth, Morgan seemed to find the daughter that he had apparently always wanted, but never actually had.

"Me, too," Morgan whispered back to Beth, and the way in which his voice cracked when he spoke almost broke her heart right there.

At his words of agreement, Beth squeezed her eyes tightly shut and inhaled a deep breath, willing herself to accept the fact that this was real. That it wasn't a part of her strange dreams or one of her wicked nightmares; but that it was the truth - that Morgan was actually here, alive and breathing. Of course, their reunion may not have played out in the circumstances that a part of her - a tiny, small, barely-even-existent part of her - had dared to hope for, it was most certainly better than never seeing him again.

* * *

It certainly hadn't taken long for Jimmy to come looking for Beth, especially once he had realised that she hadn't brought any of her medical supplies into the dungeon with her. Beth liked Jimmy well enough - he was a young man; close to her own age of nineteen, and although their choices were very different (Jimmy had _wanted_ to work as a guard for the Governor whilst Beth was working as a nurse by force), Beth still considered him to be a good guy. The problem with Jimmy though was that he had a rather large mouth and try as he might, everyone knew that he couldn't do much to keep a secret.

For that reason, Beth knew immediately that she couldn't tell Jimmy that she knew Morgan - goodness, she couldn't tell _anyone._ Not a single soul. The Governor was already crazy enough, she didn't want to bring Morgan to his attention. Thankfully, Beth had been able to hear Jimmy coming her way long before he had even gotten the opportunity to come anywhere near the cell that Morgan was being held inside of, so Beth had darted away from the older man and made a move to leave, placing a finger over her lips and signalling for Morgan to be quiet.

When she locked the cell door shut behind her, Jimmy gave her a quizzical look, his eyes darting between Beth and the people sat inside of the cell.

"Beth? What are you doin'?" Jimmy asked, his hazel eyes narrowed suspiciously in her direction. Beth smiled up at him as innocently as she could and shrugged her shoulders casually.

"I came down here to see the newcomers," Beth explained, gesturing with her hands towards the now-locked cell.

Jimmy's body was stiff and rigid, but his shoulders seemed to relax ever so slightly with her words. In general, Beth was pretty confident that Jimmy trusted her quite well, but in this day and age and in this particular town, it really wasn't wise to trust anyone entirely. "Me bein' me forgot to bring my supplies with me. Guess I have to go get 'em before I can get started on fixin' these people up."

Technically, Beth was telling Jimmy the truth, so she didn't feel as guilty as she probably should have done. But admitting to Jimmy that she knew Morgan would be a fool thing to do - even if the boy could keep his mouth shut, he had still sworn an oath to the governor and would be breaking that oath if Beth expected him to keep her secret. The safest option was to keep it between her and the others who were gathered in the cell with Morgan.

In this situation, it was probably better off that Jimmy didn't know what was going on - after all, what Jimmy didn't know wouldn't get him killed.

"Oh," Jimmy responded blankly to her explanation, a confused expression on his face as his shoulders sagged further. "Oh. Of course. That makes sense. I, er... Noticed your cart of supplies outside. I's jus' worried about you, is all."

Beth smiled at Jimmy as sweetly as she possibly could, her heart pounding in her chest in relief that he wasn't any more suspicious of her behaviour.

"Well, thank you for worryin', I guess," Beth said, laughing nervously as she tucked a piece of her long blonde hair behind her ears. "I guess I'll jus' go an' get those supplies."

* * *

Beth didn't return to the dungeon for quite some time, having been distracted by the Governor demanding her presence.

It just so happened that the man - Phillip, she had learned his name was - had quite a soft spot for Beth, much to his wife's dismay. Beth knew that the older woman despised her and actively sought of ways to get rid of her, but thankfully for Beth, the Governor wasn't easily manipulated by his wife, Dawn. She was hard and cold and down-right _mean_ when she wanted to be, and although Beth couldn't put her finger on just why Dawn hated her so much, the other women whom she spoke to assured her that it was jealousy, plain and simple.

 _That_ had been difficult to believe, and Beth just laughed off their theories with ease. After all, she very much doubted that Dawn had anything to be jealous of in her. Of course, there was the fact that Phillip had taken quite a shine to the young woman; but Beth thought that he, like Morgan, probably saw her as young and innocent, almost child-like, and as someone who needed constant protection. Before the world turned upside down, _everyone_ used to comment on Beth's baby face and how young she looked, and even now after years of hard living, Beth would easily bet on the fact that she could still pass for being sixteen.

As well as being a nurse to people in town (more actively to the newcomers who arrived with all sorts of injuries), Phillip seemed to want Beth to be his protege. Why, she didn't know, but she supposed that she would be glad for it now so that she could begin to report back some of the information to Morgan. Beth already knew that it was simply a matter of time before Morgan asked her to assist him in his escape out of here, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to deny him - even if it probably would get her into an awful load of trouble with the Governor.

Phillip called for Beth almost as soon as she had come from the dungeons and Beth immediately made her way towards his office, which was located directly above the cells. It only took her a few minutes to get there, and when she arrived, she found that several other men were gathered in the room with him. Beth recognised them all; Milton, a short, skinny man who wore glasses and always carried his notepad around with him, Eugene, a socially-awkward, rather large man who donned a mullet and a scowl, and Martinez, a thirty-something Mexican man who Beth supposed was kind of handsome with his tanned skin, dark eyes and cropped hair, but his tendency to walk around with an unappealing smirk on his face put her right off him.

The sight of them all gathered around a table in the Governor's office alerted her that the men were having an important meeting, and Beth already knew what it would be about without even having to ask any of them. Uncontrollably, her palms began to sweat and her face began to blush as Beth swallowed down the lump in her throat.

"Beth," Phillip crooned, a wide smile on his face as he leaned further back in his chair. From where he was sitting, he was directly facing her as she stood awkwardly in the doorway, tugging on the hem of her light purple dress.

"Sir," Beth said, nodding her head slightly at him and dipping her body as if to curtsy. Beth heard one of the men snigger from where they were sat at the table - probably Martinez - but she ignored them as she straightened herself up, jutting out her chin in an attempt to feign confidence.

"Please, come in," Phillip said, motioning for her to enter the room with one of his hands. Beth swallowed once more but nodded her head in acceptance of his invitation and stepped further into the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. "Sit," Phillip went on to instruct, patting at the empty chair beside him.

Beth would never be sure why on earth this man would want to teach her anything about being a leader. After all, he had his own daughter who he could be teaching these things to, but it seemed that he was much more interested in showing them all to Beth. As much as she disliked being in his presence (after all, the man wore an eye patch and called himself 'the Governor' - what could be appealing about _that?_ ), Beth had very quickly learned that to survive in this place, you had to play pretend, so she made sure that she never let on about her disdain for the man.

The young woman shifted herself into position beside the governor and offered the men sat around the table a small smile each.

"We were just discussing the new people who have arrived," Phillip told her. "Have you tended to them yet?"

Beth shook her head no.

"Alright," Phillip said, leaning back in his chair and cracking his fingers. "Not a problem. You know how our system works - we have to integrate these people into our community separately an' treat 'em as individuals, not as a group."

"They know each other?" Beth asked, genuinely curios.

Phillip nodded his head at her in confirmation.

"Apparently so," he said, clicking his teeth. "An' we don't want 'em causin' too much of a fuss now, do we? So, this last hour or so, we've been tryin' to figure out which one to let out first. Tonight."

Beth's eyes widened at that.

The process of introducing these people into the community was usually much slower than this, and Phillip was hardly ever in so much of a rush to let the people out as he was now.

"An' we've come to a decision about it - settled on the bowman."

Beth frowned at that.

"The bowman?" she repeated, confused. Her light eyes danced around the table, glancing across at each of the other men who were sat at the table. Milton and Eugene were pretty much expressionless, but Martinez was smirking at her as though he knew something that she didn't. Beth shifted uncomfortably under his gaze before returning her attention back towards Phillip.

"Yes," Phillip nodded. "The bowman. I need you to go down there and get him cleaned up for me. Make sure you scrub him nice and good, and let me know of any wounds that he has or any signs of physical abnormalities."

Beth nodded her head up and down quickly. This was all routine to her by now; she hardly needed reminding at all, although she knew that Phillip liked to make a show of talking to her like this in front of his men. It was difficult to fight the urge to roll her eyes at him and point out that she had done this far too many times before for him to still have to go into detail about her job role, but she bit on her tongue and gritted her teeth in order to keep her mouth shut.

"After you've got him cleaned up, bring him up here - to me. Have Jimmy assist you if he causes too much of a fuss."

Phillip dismissed her with a wave of his hand and Beth scooted back in her chair at the gesture.

"Is that clear, Beth?" Phillip asked, his condescending tone almost making her want to shudder.

Instead, Beth turned her head over her shoulder and beamed at him.

"Yes, sir," she responded, her eyes roaming over the other men at the table once more before she made her way out of the room.

Just as she was about to close the door behind her, Phillip called out her name, causing Beth to push her head around the side of the door and look over at him expectantly.

"Let me know if he says anything to you about where he was before," Phillip said.

The smile on the older man's face was somewhat sinister and made her feel incredibly uncomfortable, but Beth just nodded her head up and down before leaving the room entirely. She stood frozen on the opposite side of the closed door for a few seconds before she finally let out a deep breath.

Beth pushed herself from where she was leaning against the wooden door and allowed her heart rate to calm down before she headed in the direction of the dungeons, her curious mind filled with questions of this _'bowman'_ and why it was that Phillip seemed to deem him useful enough to have him be the first person to be integrated into the community.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading and please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE: ATTRACTION**

When Beth had been sent down to the dungeons with clear instructions by the Governor to pick out _'the bowman'_ and have him cleaned up before bringing him to meet with the man in charge, she had been expecting several things and running over different scenarios in her mind about who this man was and how he would behave.

Sometimes, people came more than happily with her. Those people were desperate to escape from the confines of the cell that they had been thrown into; they were often starving, exhausted and weak, and saw Beth as an opportunity to escape. Those people were usually more than relieved to be washed from the dirt and grime that covered their bodies and to have their injuries bandaged or stitched up. Beth knew from experience just how draining the experience of being locked up in one of the dungeon cells could be - not just physically, but emotionally and psychologically, too. And with that sense of understanding; that knowledge that allowed her not only to just sympathise, but to _empathise,_ too, Beth found that she couldn't blame those people at all.

There were other times, too, when those people who had to come with her to meet with the Governor were not so willing - anything but, actually. By now, Beth had months of experience of dealing with those sorts of people. Without much of a choice in the matter, Beth had had to toughen up somewhat, and she had built an invisible barrier around herself to protect her from the harsh words and bitter insults that were thrown in her direction by those sorts of people.

Beth had also taken to mastering the art of ducking or jumping quickly out of the way at _just_ the right time so that she missed being punched, scratched, kicked, bit or slapped. Those people were angry - not necessarily with Beth, or at Beth in particular - but more so with the general situation that they had found themselves in, and so Beth couldn't blame those people, either.

So when she finally reached the furthest cell in the cobbled line of the dungeon and asked Morgan to point out this man that they called 'the bowman' to her, she found herself to be pleasantly surprised.

Daryl Dixon was _not_ what Beth Greene had been expecting.

* * *

It was as though the older man didn't care at all.

When brought him out of the dungeons and led him towards her makeshift clinic, Beth was expecting him to at least say _something._ This was usually the point where people either asked her questions, like _"Where are you taking me?"_ or _"Am I allowed to **leave**?". _ It was also usually the point where others would start to pick away at her to see what sort of response they could get from her, like _"Aren't you a lil' young to be doing this?"_ or _"Nice ass, blondie - shame you're a **bitch**." _

But not Daryl Dixon. He didn't say anything - not a word or a grunt or even a huff. Instead, he just followed her; completely silent, and it seemed as if he wasn't there at all.

When they reached her office, Beth invited him to sit down on one of the chairs whilst she got everything prepared. His presence made her feel slightly uncomfortable, that much was certain - the man stared at her with so much intensity that Beth was certain that he would be able to set her alight if he wanted to. Still, Morgan had taken the time to murmur words of reassurance and encouragement in her ear when she asked him who it was that she was looking for; informing her that _"Daryl's a good guy."_ Morgan has asked Beth to trust him (he could probably see the worry etched on her features when she initially found out just who it was that she would be leading away to the clinic) and the younger woman had nodded blankly, believing in her heart that if Morgan honestly thought that Daryl would try something, then he would have warned her.

When Beth had prepared all of her items and set them all out in a neat line over one of the shelves, she turned around to face her new patient. Immediately, she was caught by surprise and jumped when she realised just how close Daryl was to her - he hadn't accepted her invitation to sit down and had instead stayed rooted to the spot, but Beth hadn't been expecting it and had made a move towards him so that she would be closer to him before she even realised that the older man hadn't bothered to sit down.

Placing a hand over her heart, Beth couldn't help but feel more than a little flustered and let out a little laugh.

"Oh," she gasped, her light blue eyes wide as her head shook from side to side. "You scared me."

Daryl didn't say or do anything. Instead, he continued to stare at her, an unreadable expression on his face.

Whilst she had been walking this man over to her clinic, Beth had noticed just how much bigger he was in proportion to her slender frame. It was practically impossible to miss - he stood at least a head and a half taller than her, if not more, and his shoulders were impossibly broad. Beth had tried not to let her gaze linger too long on his arms (but boy, were they something else - all big and toned and pure muscle, defined from years of tough living and all tanned from a life in the Georgia sun), but she was only human and only young for that matter, too.

The men that Beth was used to being around weren't half as defined as this man - the bowman, Beth remembered the nickname that they had used for him - and Beth swallowed as she looked up at him, her doe eyes all wide and unsure. Daryl stared down at her for what felt like it could have been months before he finally let out a little huff - his warm breath tickling her cheeks - and moved backwards, putting some more space in between them, but not sitting down, either.

"I need to clean you up," Beth said, finally allowing her eyes to trail over his appearance.

He wasn't necessarily the filthiest person that she had come across, but the man was equally just as far from being considered even close to clean, too. Beth was glad that she had spare clothes already stored in one of the cupboards that she could give to him - although she would _definitely_ be sad to see the wife beater that he was wearing go.

Pushing those thoughts away, Beth faintly smiled up at him as she patiently waited for his response to her statement. Once again, Daryl Dixon said nothing at all to her, but Beth could only take his silence as a positive thing. After all, he wasn't necessarily protesting.

The young woman picked up the bucket of soapy water that she had prepared and left next to the sink and grabbed a clean rag before placing it on the floor in front of him. This part was always awkward, even at the best of times, but Beth had a feeling that on this particular occasion, she was going to be the furthest thing from comfortable.

"I, err..." Beth began, her eyes darting all over his face, taking in his sharp features. "I need you to... You know. Undress."

The man just stared at her, his expression remaining unreadable.

"Please."

That seemed to do the trick; although Daryl did seem to still be hesitant and unsure, he made a move to remove his clothing. At the sight of him dropping the leather vest that he had been wearing to the floor and making a move to unfasten his belt, Beth pivoted on her heel and moved closer to all of her things, allowing her eyes to roam over them and pick at them one by one.

Beth had a feeling that the one pail of water that she was using wasn't going to be enough to get him clean enough for the Governor, but Beth supposed that it was probably best to take the situation as it came instead of making more buckets now when she wasn't sure how much she would need. Just because the town had a running water source didn't mean that it's residents could be frivolous with it. Beth had to keep an eye on just how much she was using to ensure that not a drop was wasted.

Behind her, Daryl cleared his throat, and Beth jumped instantly at the sound. That one little noise was the first thing that the young woman had heard from him at all, and as much as she was nervous to have to be in this situation, Beth was also very much so excited.

As she turned around, Beth fought to keep her line of vision above Daryl's neck, refusing to drink in his appearance - as much as she wanted to. Still, despite keeping her head held high - literally - Beth could still see Daryl's form from the corner of her eye. The sight of the man stripped down to just his boxers made Beth want to drool (which surprised her, because before all of this, Beth had never, EVER been the drooling type), but the voice ringing in her ears reminded her to keep herself calm and act at least somewhat professional.

"You'd probably be much more comfortable sat down," Beth tried once more, offering him a warm smile. As she was quickly coming to accept, Daryl didn't say anything to her. Beth let out a little sigh at his silence. "Alright. _I_ would feel much more comfortable if you sat down. I... I don't think I'll be able to reach all of you if you're standing up."

The sensation of her cheeks burning a dark scarlet colour was all too familiar, but Beth tried her best to ignore it. Daryl let out a noise - something that sounded quite like a grunt and reminded her of some sort of caveman or ape - before he looked around him, scowling at the chair that Beth had indicated towards when he first entered the room. Despite his bravado, Beth could tell that Daryl was uncomfortable - it was radiating from him and his movements in general were quite stiff and uncertain. Still, Beth couldn't blame him - after all, she hated every moment of getting cleaned up, too.

Only her experience was probably worse than his was going to be because it had involved Gorman.

But that had been before she killed him.

Finally, Daryl seemed to be satisfied by sitting himself down on one of the counter tops. Beth fought the urge to roll her eyes - really, he _had_ to be teasing her now - and decided to simply carry on smiling at him, all sweet and gentle. Daryl's eyes were narrowed as she picked up the bucket of soapy water and placed it on the counter right next to him before she made a move to dip the sponge and cloth that she had already picked out into it.

"Now," Beth said, choosing not to look up at the man whom she was stood directly in front of. Instead, Beth was focusing all of her attention on the sponge and the cloth. "I know that this probably ain't gonna be too comfortable for you. It's not for me, either. But the Governor has asked me to make sure that I clean you up, so..."

Her words trailed off as she placed the sponge on one of his biceps, her eyes never straying far from his. Beth held it there as still as she possibly could for a few seconds, waiting to see if Daryl would give her any sort of reaction, any sort of protest against her movements.

He didn't, so Beth began to scrub.

The silence that hung over them whilst Beth cleaned Daryl's body wasn't necessarily uncomfortable (although she would have felt much more relaxed had he not been staring at her and what she was doing to him the entire time), but Beth had always had a habit of singing to herself whenever it was quiet, and today seemed to be no different whatsoever.

 _"I wish I could lay down beside you when the day is done, and wake up to your face against the morning sun."_

If Beth didn't know any better, she would say that Daryl wasn't scowling quite as much as she sang to herself, but she knew that it was probably best not to think too much on it. As she scrubbed the dirt away from his chest and dipped the sponge back into the water - which was slowly but surely changing colour into a dark and murky brown - before she began to trail the soap down to his lower abdomen.

 _"But like everything I've ever known, you'll disappear one day, so I'll spend my whole life hiding my heart away."_

"Song's depressin'."

The sound of Daryl actually _speaking_ caught Beth so off guard that she flinched (again) and stepped back slightly, completely caught off guard by the sound of his voice. Men that Beth knew would have probably looked amused to see her react in such a way, but Daryl looked equally as surprised as she did, especially when the sponge landed in his lap with a wet _plop._ Beth cursed under her breath when she realised how clumsy she had been and reached out quickly to grab the sponge back, only to blush furiously when she realised where exactly her hand had just been - technically, she hadn't touched anything, but _still -_ and even more so when she realised that the boxers that Daryl were wearing were light grey.

Beth tore her gaze away from his crotch area and looked up to his face, her mouth hanging open slightly as she wanted to say something - anything - but she couldn't think of the words. Daryl continued to stare at her, his deep blue eyes much wider than she had seen them before, and after a few seconds, Beth finally snapped back to reality.

"Oh, goodness. I'm so sorry, sir, I -"

"Daryl."

He cut her off then, his expression stoic. Beth narrowed her eyes at him in confusion.

"M'name's Daryl. M'no _sir._ "

Not knowing what else to do, Beth simply chose to swallow and nod her head once, feigning confidence. Without saying anything more about it, she reached out for the sponge once again and returned to her original task. A short while later, Beth realised that Daryl had been trying to make an effort with her in terms of conversation, and she couldn't help but feel rude for not acknowledging that.

"Take it you don't like that song then, huh?" she asked as she bent over slightly and began to scrub at his upper thighs, making sure to keep an eye out for any wounds that needed tending to. So far, she hadn't found anything fresh - just old scars and cuts all over his chest and abdomen; signs of wounds that had been there some time ago, but had now healed and marked his skin.

Similar, in their own way, to the scar that she wore on her wrist, although Beth doubted that Daryl's scars had been self-inflicted.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders in response to her question. Beth shifted onto her knees so that she could reach his lower legs, which were notably less dirty than his upper body (particularly his arms) had been. She dared to look up at him, their eyes locking on each other's.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Beth said, her lips twisting in a half-smile.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders again, and this time the action made her smile completely.

"Okay," she said, shaking her head as she returned her attention to his dirty legs. "So, I know that you're friends with Morgan."

Daryl let out an _mmm_ noise to that, and Beth took it as a sign of the older man's agreement to her statement.

"Did he tell you all how he knows me?" Beth pushed, glancing up at Daryl again as she began to scrub at his feet.

As her fingers brushed against the bottom of his foot so that she could hold them still whilst she cleaned them, Daryl flinched, effectively kicking the air and causing her to snatch her hand away so that he didn't accidentally boot her. Beth looked up at Daryl with surprise evident all over her features; her blue eyes wide and curious, her mouth forming a small 'o' and her cheeks painted rose pink.

Daryl looked equally surprised, too - even more so when Beth started giggling to herself.

"Hey," she said, raising a brow at him playfully. "Looks like you're ticklish."

Before Beth could even blink, Daryl was scowling again.

"I ain't," he snorted, his eyes narrowed.

Beth couldn't help but smirk at that.

"That so?" the young woman said, slowly and purposefully outstretching her hand towards his foot once again, wiggling her fingers dramatically as she did so.

Daryl narrowed his eyes further at her, but Beth couldn't mistake the way that his lips were twitching upwards as though he was fighting back a smile from her.

"Girl," he said in a warning tone, but Beth could see right through him.

Still, she knew better than to push her boundaries. More than anything else, this man was a stranger - whether he was a friend of Morgan's or not. Beth grabbed at the bottom of his ankle quickly and gave it a quick squeeze, but before Daryl even had the opportunity to consider what she was going to do, Beth returned to her task of scrubbing at his feet.

"Bet you feel like some sorta pampered prince, right, Mr Dixon?" Beth asked when she stood up again, pouring the bucket of dirty water down the drain and re-filling it once more. Daryl snorted again at that, giving her a look that she couldn't quite describe. "So, did Morgan tell y'all how we know each other?"

"Kinda," Daryl said, watching as Beth reached for a clean sponge and dipped it into the clean water. The young woman wrung the material out so that it wasn't dripping before she made her way back over to Daryl. Without warning, Beth resumed her task of cleaning him; only this time, it was his face that she was cleaning.

Before, her strokes with the sponge had been hard and forceful as she battled to remove the dirt and grime from Daryl's skin. Now, however, Beth was being much more gentle with him, unable to rip her eyes away from his own as she wiped at his face. Once she was finished, Beth placed the sponge back in the bucket and took a step back from Daryl, her eyes glancing over him and taking in his newly clean appearance.

"Okay," she said, nodding her head at him and signalling that she was happy with her work. "That's good. I jus' need you t'turn around so that I can wash your back, an' then -"

"No."

Beth blinked at that, surprised to hear him refuse, especially when he hadn't put up much of a fight to allow her to clean the rest of him.

"Daryl, I have to -"

"I said no."

Beth continued to stare at the older man who seemed to be behaving much more defensively than he had been previously. Trying not to think too much of it, Beth inhaled a deep breath before nodding her head at him. After all, if he didn't want to let her wash his back for him, then so be it. The rest of his body was clean enough, so the Governor would never even notice that Daryl hadn't been completely washed down.

"Alright," Beth said, nodding her head in defeat. "Okay. Well, I'll jus' go an' grab you some clothes to wear from storage..."

Her voice trailed off, suddenly feeling much more timid than she had around him the whole time that he had been in her clinic. Daryl didn't say anything or make any move to signal to her that he was happy about what she was doing, but the fact that he wasn't outright turning down the idea told her that he had accepted it well enough. With a small sigh, Beth turned around and made her way over towards the supplies cupboard, rummaging around and picking out a few items - a plain black tee, a pair of denim jeans, some boxers and a pair of socks - and threw them lightly in his direction, smiling slightly when he caught them easily.

"Okay," she said. "I'll be right outside while you get changed, an' then I'll take you t'see the Governor. I just..."

Beth squinted at him then and tilted her head to the side, nibbling on her lower lip whilst she gazed at him in concentration. Daryl frowned under her scrutiny and shifted almost awkwardly.

"Wha'?" he asked, clearly wanting to know just why she was staring at him the way that she was. Beth could only shrug her shoulders at him.

"I was just thinkin'," she said, turning her head and scanning over the shelf that she had spread her things across a short while before. As soon as Beth caught sight of the disposable razor, she reached out and grabbed them, turning back to face Daryl with a grin. As she walked past him towards the door to leave the clinic, she put the item into one of his large hands and made a move to leave the room before he could respond. "You could use a shave."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading and please review!**


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